captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, february 14: reactions to the second impeachment acquittal of former president donald trump; can the biden administration act on gun reform? and heartfelt sentiments in new york city's times square. next on “pbs newshour weekend.” >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz.

the cheryl and philip milstein family. barbara hope zuckerberg. the leonard and norma klorfine foundation. the peter g. peterson and joan ganz cooney fund. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutualamerica financial group, retirement services and investments. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans, designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional suprt has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you.

thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us. seven republican senators who voted with democrats in former president donald trump's achment trial yesterday and the powerful senate minority leader mitch mcconnell are now facing attacks from members of their own party. >> sreenivasan: the senate acquitted the former president on the charge of inciting insurrection when a mob attacked the capitol on january 6. it was the most bipartisan vote in an impeachment trial in senate history, but the 57 guilty votes did not reach the two-thirds needed to convict. after the trial ended, republican senator mitch mcconnell-- who voted to acquit-- had scathing comments about mr. trump's actions. president biden quoted mcconnell in a statement issued last night writing “the substance of the charge is not in dispute. even those opposed to the conviction, like senate minority leader mcconnell, believe donald trump was guilty of a 'disgraceful dereliction of duty' and 'practically and

morally responsible for provoking' the violence unleashed on the capitol.” republican senator lindsey graham, who also voted not guilty, said mcconnell's comments will make it hard for republicans running for reelection. >> that spee you will see in 2022 campaigns, i would imagine, if you're a republican running in arizona, georgia, new hampshire where we have a chance to take back the senate, they may be playing senator mcconnell's speech and asking you about it as a candidate. >> sreenivasan: republican senator bill cassidy of louisiana, who voted to convict trump, was censured by his state's g.o.p. executive committee last night. cassidy defended his vote based on the former president's speech on january 6. >> and even after he knew there was violence taking place, he continued to basically sanction the mob being there, and not until later that he actually asked them to leave. all of that points to a motive and a method and that is wrong. he should be held accountable.

>> sreenivasan: yesterday's impeachment vote left both republicans and democrats trying to measure the consequences. here with some thoughts is special correspondent jeff greenfield who joins us from santa barbara. so, jeff, yesterday we had seven republicans vote with democrats, very different than the first impeachment trial. consequential? >> well, it may be consequential to them. the louisiana state republican party immediately censured senator cassidy. we have to say two of those are retiring. three of them just got reelected. lisa murkowski has a very strong base beyond the republicans. but the real story, i think, is that 43 republican senators in the face of this evidence, voted to acquit, along with 90% or more of the house republicans. and i believe what that tells you is the pro trump sentiment back home is much more significant than the fact that seven republican senators said, all right, we have to convict. and if you want to see a sense of that, fox news sent out an alert right after the vote saying here are the seven

republicans who turned their backs on the president. that's a pretty strong indication, i think, th the fear of trump's voters and what trump might do in the year or the year ahead is really the driving fact of the republican party. >> sreenivasan: somebody who did vote to acquit, mitch mcconnell, he said something that almost opened a doorway for the criminal courts now, should be where trump finds justice. >> right, and i think we should remember that mcconnell voted to acquit because you can't impeach and remove a former president. and it was mcconnell who decided to delay the trial until he became a former president. but i think what you're seeing here is mcconnell laying down a marker saying we as republicans cannot take back the senate and the house without distancing ourselves from donald trump. but, you know, we've seen this play before.

five years ago, there was an absolute conviction among mainstream republicans that donald trump was just going to disappear by the first primary. and i think what mcconnell is saying is we can't win if donald trump is-- is defining our party. but again, you've got people back home who are absolutely adamant, saying we are followers of donald trump, not you guys in washington. >> sreenivasan: does this now put trump behind us in terms of what president biden is trying to set out to do? >> i think from the president's point of view, and it's one of he's got a vid epidemic-- or pandemic-- to deal with. he's got an attempt to put massive sums of money into the pockets of people back home. and he's got the thinnest majorities in the hse and senate you could possibly have. i think what biden may be hoping for is that the traditional republican congressional opposition to democratic presidents which haunted bill clinton and barack obama may be

different given both the public demand for more aggressive government action and the fact that there's a real epidemic out there. so, i-- my own feeling is that six months down the road, impeachment may be as dim a memory a was last november for the first impeachment, but i do have to add this, if i might, hari: biden also talked about the fragility of democracy. if it weren't for a series of republican officials back in different states and trump appointed judges, we might very well have seen the overturning of the 2020 election. and i think the idea that this is all going to be behind us, we're going to get back to a normal kind of politics, i think is a-- potentially dangerous illusion as we fight through the various normal political battles. i do think the specter of donald trump will still be very much overhanging our political

process. >> sreenivasan: jeff greenfield joining us from santa barbara, california. thanks so much. >> thank you, hari. >> sreenivasan: this week, president biden will make his first official trips to events outside washington, d.c. he'll be at a town hall in wisconsin on tuesday and plans to visit pfizer's covid-19 vaccine manufacturing plant in michigan on thursday. vaccination rates are slowly increasing in the u.s. the "new york times" tracking project shows most states have now given at least one dose of a vaccine to more than 9% of their populations. this week one million doses are being sent to pharmacies nationwide to help boost availability. globally, more than 162 million doses of vaccine have been administered, but many countries have not given a single shot to date. japan announced today that it has approved the pfizer vaccine for use and may begin its first vaccinations this coming week. despite ovements, the disease continues to spread in most countries with more than 344,000 new cases reported yesterday.

in new zealand, the prime minister announced a three day lockdown in the city of auckland beginning tonight after a family of three all tested positive for covid-19. the lockdown is the first in six months in a country that has reported a total of just over 2,300 cases and only5 deaths since the pandemic started. severe snowstorms hit the pacific northwest this weekend, leaving thousands without power and forcing vaccination clinics to postpone appointments. oregon governor kate brown declared an extreme weather state of emergency for nine counties as an ice storm swept through the state snapping power lines and leaving more than 200,000 homes without power. more heavy snowfall is expected in the region through next week. for the latest national and international news, visit pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: mass protests in myanmar continued today, despite more aggressive actions by the military junta now controlling

the country. thousands of demonstrators thered outside the united nations building in the country's largest city, yangon, to ask for outside intervention to stop the military coup. the u.n. human rights council approved a resolution on friday calling on military leaders to release the democratically- elected leader aung san suu kyi and other government officials. armored military vehicles were seen driving through yangon, and reports that the military might shut down internet access sparked fears of a more forceful response to protests. earlier this week the biden administration approved sanctions that included freezing u.s. assets of the coup's military leaders and redirecting aid for myanmar's government. for perspective on the coup and the protest movement in myanmar, i spoke with journalist francis wade who joined us from london. he is the author of "myanmar's enemy within: buddhist violence and the making of a muslim other." i started by asking him about the u.s. threat of sanctions on leaders of the military coup.

you know, if sanctions are supposed to be a tool to rein in the excesses of any individual or institution, then the coup shows that, of course, they haven't been effecte. the military is still pursuing its intention to control the country using whatever means possible. it's been ruthless in this execution of the coup. and my fear is now that it's going to start cracking down on protesters. it doesn't seem to be too concerned about international pressure, whether that comes in the form of diplomatic pressure or financial sanctions. >> sreenivasan: what is the role the chinese are only interested in stability, and they have huge economic

investments in myanmar. all they want is for those investments to remain stable. and whether that's done under a civilian democratic government, whether that's done under a military government, i don't think it particularly matters to them. and so, you know, they may issue vocal or soft vocal condemnation of what's happened, and they may implore stability in myanmar, but all that really means is let's try and calm the situation, ensure its interests are secure and for myanmar to continue to rule under whatever form of government secures those interests. >> sreenivasan: so, what happens to aung san suu kyi in this? in a way, it seemed that the west projected everything that we wished that she would be a few years ago when she got out of house arrest. didn't turn out that way. where is she? i mean, it's she and her party were the ones that won the landslide victory in the recent election, but at this point, she's detained in an unknown location? >> that's right. well, i think she's now in her

house in naypyidaw, but that's not cfirmed. i mean, her broader place in this is that she did win, her party did win a landslide victory in november. it took, i think, 397 of 496 seats. the military's party only won 33. the military has been humiliated by the results and the proteste have united in their calls for the release of aung san suu kyi for the military to cede power to the civilian government. and there is, i think, hope that, you know, doing so will kick-start the process of democratization the military coup, has stalled. and i think we need to really interrogate the quality of the democratization process that was ongoing under suu kyi. you know, the military wasn power, even though it held only 25% of parliamentary seats as

part of this very delicate power sharing agreement. it was essentially empowered, it controlled key institutions. suu kyi was sidelined. she had some influence over foreign relations, over economic investment in the country. she stood as this very, sort of, influential figure, but she was sidelined. and what power she did have, she essentially centralized and didn't really allow other leaders or political figures to rise. so, i think there are two issues here: the quality of the democratization process that was underway and it's end point, and the quality of suu kyi as the democratic leader. and i think both are very much in question at the moment. >> sreenivasan: but what are you concerned about in the coming weeks? i mean, because in a way, even trying to shut down the internet has not slowed the amount of demonstrators that have taken to the streets.

>> no, i mean, the protests have it's been a very spirited, i suppose, display of pure democracy, seeing these protests. the fear now is that the military knows no other way of bargaining apart from violence. and that's been proven time and again over the decades. and what it will seek to do, i suppose, is to condition suu kyi and the national league for democracy into returning to parliament in a year's time ce the state of emergency is over, a more timid, less assertive political force. she's not going to capitulate to that, at least i don't think so. and the protesters aren't going to stand down unless forced to. and so i think there's a huge risk now, with the protests only growing, the military is going to step up its threats of violence and ultimately its use of violence. >> sreenivasan: all right, francis wade, author of the book "myanmar's enemy within: buddhist violence and the making

of a muslim other." thanks so much for joining us. thank you, hari. >> sreenivasan: it was three years ago today that a mass shooter killed 17 and wounded 17 more at marjory stoneman douglass high school in parkland, florida. the governor ordered flags to fly at half staff today, and there were vigils and a moment of silence across schools in the state to mark the tragedy. the shooting motivated a national student-led "march for our lives protest" and helped change the dialogue on stronger gun control laws, but major efforts for reform stalled. today, president biden released a statement calling on congress to act now and "enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high- capacity magazines." for more on gun control legislation, i recently spoke

with jennifer mascia, news writer for "the trace," a non- profit newsroom focusing on america's gun violence crisis. jennifer, anti-violence and gun control advocates have been waiting for long time until, let's say, the democrats had control of the white house, the senate and the house. here we are. are they likely to see what they want? >> well, there are a lot of now, i'd say within the first 100 days, you never want to say never, but it seems doubtful. there is a lot on lawmakers plates right now, but they are committed and remain optimistic despite some political realities. it's a very fraught atmosphere right now, and guns to many people are still a third rail. >> sreenivasan: what about the balance of power in the senate? who really has conol here when it's such a razor-thin margin? >> well, the new configuration empowers moderate democrats and republicans, people like joe manchin, people who are center

left and center right. but the truth is, with this razor-thin majority, like you said, really what i'm hearing over and over again is the filibuster is a big obstacle. until there can be a vote on a simple majority, getting 60 votes is very difficult. you know, in 2013, after sandy hook, the universal background check bill came six votes short. and that was when democrats had a majority, but they still couldn't reach 60. so, to be honest, it's very uphill. and what i'm hearing is the filibuster really, really matters in this. >> sreenivasan: you know, i even moderated a town hall with then- vice president joe biden after sandy hook, and that was aera where people thought, you know what? if nothing happens after 26 little kids were shot down in elementary school, we're never going to get anywhere. has the landscape changed since then? >> that was a big failure, and it was devastating for gun

violence prevention advocates and survivors. after that, though, it triggered a wave of support for the gun violence prevention movement. and they had a lot of state victories backing bills in state legislatures and ballot initiatives. when gun violence is on the ballot, voters in most cases tend to favor gun reforms. so, federally, thenaction was devastating, but it did empower a lot of people. and then there was a second wave of empowerment and activism on the anti-gun vlence front, and that was pkland. and after parkland, it became a situation where democrats were not afraid to run on gun reform, where before they would bury their gun reform credentials and not really make that a talking point in debates. things have definitely changed, but one thing that has gotten

more extreme about the landscape is the politically fraught era we're in where we still have fervent trump supporters and something like curtailing gun rights, which some of these bills would do for certain people, is really not politically palatable with those voters. >> sreenivasan: what about the influence and power of the n.r.a.? how has that changed? >> the influence of the n.r.a., the n.r.a., one potical scientist told me, is like many political party: they pick primary candidates to back and they put a lot of money behind them. they turn out ads at a moment's notice. so they are like a machine. and that infrastructure, well, it may not be as strong as it was in the past because the n.r.a. is having some problems right now-- there are allegations of financial misdeeds, they filed for bankruptcy-- but the fear of getting primaried for republicans, especially when there are a lot of trump supporters out there who tend to

punish disloyalty, is still very real. so, it's that fear of losing their job basically is still there. >> sreenivasan: jennifer mascia of "trace," thanks so much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: the arts have been hit hard by the pandemic. large live events and gallery openings still aren't possible. with so much on hold, there is a silver lining: outdoor public art has gained new traction as a visible form of expression tt can still be experienced and enjoyed safely. on this valentine's day weekend, newshour weekend's ivette feliciano reports on a new, outdoor public sculpture in times square, the heart of new york city. >> reporter: in the center of one of the most iconic urban spaces in the world, an interactive sculpture of two interlocked hearts was unveiled

earlier this week. it's called "love letters," and it's the work of lexi tsien and tal liu, directors of the design practice soft-firm. while times square has fewer visitors than it did before the pandemic, that doesn't mean it's any quieter, and i spoke with them as the public and omnipresent construction continued around us. >> we liked the idea of having it kind of be a single line that was a little bit open ended and as you're walking on the ground, you don't see the two hearts as much, but as you go up the red step or even for those inhabitants who live in the buildings and work in the buildings above, they can look down and really engage and see the hearts kind of come together. >> reporter: the project is part of the annual "love in times square" design competition run by times square arts, a nonprofit public art organization. jean cooney is the group's director. >> we believe that art and design are critical to our public spaces and the cultural fabric of times square, and in turn that the artists, architects, designers and the

creative community at lae are really critical to the spirit, well-being and recovery of new york city. >> reporter: the organization invited designers to submit plans for a heart-themed structure. and, in a nod to the past year, t also added a constraint: plywood had to be incorporated in the design. >> across all of our cities, but especially in new york right now and all of our neighborhoods, we're just seeing so much plywood on our buildings and storefronts. and it's this almost contagious symbol of uncertainty and hardship, whether due to the pandemic or due to fear and uncertainty around political unrest. and we wanted to take this symbol and kind of repurpose it, you know, both literally and figuratively, and reposition it as possibly a symbol of hope and solidarity and positivity. >> reporter: in addition to plywood, which was donated by local businesses, "love letters" also uses mesh safety net and panels of colorful film; weaving

together four so-called "chambers" that are open to visitors. the public can participate in the installation by writing a love letter on a ribbon and then posting it right here onto the structure. and if you're not in new york, you can email your message to times square arts and an ambassador will come and tie the note onto the structure for you. designers tsien and liu hope that the sculpture is transformed by all the notes over the next month that it's installed here. >> so much emotion has happened this year, and we really want to capture that and provide a place for people to-- to express themselves, you know, and create a receptacle for all the citizens and activists, but all the people who have just, you know, want to write a note to a loved one or a first responder or to black lives matter or to any cause that they really care about. >> reporter: in its first couple days, hundreds of messages have been left-- >> robert and denise. >> reporter: and it's already become a memorable backdropor some. earlier today, denise and robert

marte renewed their wedding vows in a ceremony surrounded by the "love letters" sculpture. ♪ ♪ ♪ ( cheers and applause ) >> sreenivasan: we here at newshour weekend wish the couple congratulations and everyone a happy valentine's day. that's all for this edition of“ pbs newshour weekend.” for the latest news updates visit pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay healthy and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. barbara hope zuckerberg.

the leonard and norma klorfine foundation. the peter g. peterson and joan ganz cooney fund. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching s.

[announcer]: this program was made possible in part by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [music] [tog: the brain is what makes humans human. it's central to everything about us. the ability to lrn things new, to experience new things. it's all between my ears. [banfield]: e brain is our command center and it's imbued with an incredible gift. it can change its structure and function through a process called neuroplasticity. [moffett]: we used to think that the brain was set up the way it was set up. but it turns out, the brain can adapt also.